Hannahan deal official

The Reds announced their signing of free agent utility infielder, Jack Hannahan (32) for two years with a club option in 2015. The two years cover Hannahan’s final two arbitration seasons. The salary is reported as $2 million/year, but not confirmed by the team. Jocketty:

“Jack is known for being a great teammate and a clubhouse leader everywhere he’s been,” Jocketty said. “He’s very good defensively and is capable of playing any infield position. We think he was the best utility player out there.”

Hannahan, 32, in 105 appearances for the Cleveland Indians last season hit .244 with 16 doubles, 4 HR and 29 RBI despite a minor back injury that limited his playing time. In his career, Hannahan has appeared in 451 games at 3B, 39 games at 1B, 9 games at SS and 1 game at 2B for the Indians, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners.

As usual, no mention of his OBP, so here: career OBP (.312) and career walk-rate (10.3%).

Hannahan fields right-handed but bats lefty. He’s from Minnesota and was originally drafted by the Tigers. He has spent time with four teams, most recently Cleveland.

Can Frazier still back up @ short in a pinch? If he can then I don’t see how having Rolen back would get in the way if Hannahan can play short too…I think you would have a very potent hitting bench without Donald and keeping both Paul and Heisey.

Can Frazier still back up @ short in a pinch? If he can then I don’t see how having Rolen back would get in the way if Hannahan can play short too…I think you would have a very potent hitting bench without Donald and keeping both Paul and Heisey.

I don’t think you want Frazier or Hannahan playing short (or second) in anything other than an emergency. In 2 seasons, Frazier has 8 innings at SS and 3 innings at 2B. In 6 seasons, Hannahan has 24 innings at SS and 2 innings at 2B.
These guys are predominantly corner infielders, with Frazier also able to play LF.

Donald can play 2B, SS, 3B, and OF. That makes him very valuable to the Reds, particularly if he can hit north of .250, like his first 2 seasons. Meanwhile, the Reds have NO ONE in the minors anywhere close to being MLB ready at SS.

Seems like Hannahan is a poor man’s Rolen, and can also give you some innings at 1B. Hannahan is signed for 2 years; I don’t see how Rolen is not gone.

@Chris Garber: Sometimes there are things a person has to do to help improve their “luck”. My recollection is that around the time of Mesoraco’s demotion there was coverage that he was being nonreceptive to coaching about how he might increase his luck if he hit fewer fly balls and pop ups.

@seat101:According to Doug Gray at Redsminorleagues.com, the catching position is the weakest of all the positions in the minor leagues. Apparently it’s Tucker Barnhart at AA, and no one else in full season ball. The link:

With what’s left to do, what holes we would have, etc., in no particular order. . .

I’m not convinced that Ludwick will be protection for Votto like Halliday was for Pujols or Fielder was for Braun. He will be more protection than Rolen was the last two seasons. But, I still believe that Votto will get pitched around.

Defense in CF will obviously take a hit. But, I am going to concentrate on how the offense should pick up, at least from that position.

I can understand moving Chapman to a starting role. But, I’m not convinced he will be successful at it nor that’s what we should have done. The pitching is what carried us last year, why change it? I’m not convinced Broxton will be as good in the closer role as Chapman was. And, I’m not convinced that Chapman will be better than Leake starting. Chapman may have more physical potential than Leake. But, there is a difference between closing and starting. As a starter, location is more of a premium, something Chapman has struggled with. As well as, Chapman didn’t do well holding runners. How can he field his position, something closers don’t have to worry about much? Can he bat? As much of an upside over Leake that Chapman may have, I see just as much a downside. Given we are talking about a 5th starter, given we are only one season past from that starter being the biggest winner on this staff, I wouldn’t have had a problem giving Leake another shot. The pen, I believe, is definitely weaker. The starting staff will probably be better, not as much from Chapman but from another year experience for Cueto, Latos, and Bailey.

I believe we still need to answer the catching situation. I believe Devin struggled catching only 2 of 5 games. I like both Devin and Ryan. But, when does our “future” become our “present”? By the time Baker was to give Devin his shot, we may be well past his prime years catching. I believe Devin should either be starting at minimum 3 of 5 games, or we should be trading him off.

Which gets to probably our biggest weakness. The players may like to play for Baker. Baker may win a lot of games. But, there are reasons why he has a losing post season record, why he’s won 3 of 9 post season series, no WS, manager of the team on the losing side of a couple of the biggest post season collapses in MLB history, where 2 clubs refused to bring him back, one after leading them to the WS. I will say this, where Baker has proven he can’t get the job done, there isn’t anyone else out there, at least with notoriety, who could get the job done. I do believe if we were to open the managerial position up, the line of candidates would file down I-75. But, of notoriety? I don’t think much. We would probably end up taking a flyer on someone with little if any experience/success. Some may decide to take the flyer, some not. It’s obvious with the Reds, they have decided not to.

So, the Reds added an “assistant hitting coach,” or is it “assistant to the hitting coach?”

Ronnie Ortegon played 2 years of A ball in 1989-1990 with a slash line of .222/.333/.287/.621 in 987 PA. He was a 5’9″ 165# LH 1B. Well, those who can’t do it, can still teach it I suppose. I hope he does however pass on his in his teachings the traits that led him to his 12.7 BB%.

@steveschoen: I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your post. good stuff.

I was all about making Chapman a starter….two years ago. Now, I’m not so sure it is worth the experimentation. I guess that’s what Spring Training is for. The comment above regarding “would you rather have one of your most dominant pitchers throw 60 or 160 innings?” is a little oversimplified. Nothing says that he would be dominant over a larger number of innings when location and pitch selection are far more important. And while it’s not a determining factor, the thought of having Chappy hold a bat 2-3 times a game compared to Mike Leake doesn’t exactly fill me with a lot of joy.

I agree that Ludwick will not be the best protection possible for Joey, but he very well may have been the best protection available. I know many do not even subscribe to the notion of ‘protection’, but when you have a perinnial MVP candidate at the plate I have to believe it is more than a notion.

I may be one of the few, but I don’t think the downgrade on defense in CF is going to be that big. Choo may not be the most natural CF, but he has good speed and a cannon of an arm. Of course the ability of having someone on base frequently before the aforementioned MVP candidate comes to the plate is worth having a stake driven into the ground with a hat on it patrolling CF.

I’m a little concerned about our catching situation, but not overly stressed. It seems to me catching is one of the most cyclical positons in all sports. Either there is a glut of solid backstops, or a famine. There are several factors for this, but I believe we are at a time that most teams are struggling with this issue. It’s kinda like winning not by beating the other guy but by him beating himself. I think Devin getting two starts a week will be positive for both guys and the team.

I share your concerns about Baker and his tunnel vision. Why in the world it took so long to realize Arrondondo, for example, carries left handed splits over the course of his career is inexcusable. I was on the Jose bandwagon before he got here and when he pitched for the Angels I saw it then. I still think he has more upside and will be a little stronger this year. When he’s right, his split finger is the best in the biz. If Masset pitches like he’s capable, the bullpen should still be a strength for this club, even without Chapman in it.

I think our bench is much better now than where we were last season. It was a glaring weakness. I would like to see Rolen on it, personally; but I can see where Dusty may misplay that terribly.

mes to the plate is worth having a stake driven into the ground with a hat on it patrolling CF.

I’m a little concerned about our catching situation, but not overly stressed. It seems to me catching is one of the most cyclical positons in all sports. Either there is a glut of solid backstops, or a famine. There are several factors for this, but I believe we are at a time that most teams are struggling with this issue. It’s kinda like winning not by beating the other guy but by him beating himself. I think Devin getting two starts a week will be positive for both guys and the team.

I share your concerns about Baker and his tunnel vision. Why in the world it took so long to realize Arrondondo, for example, carries left handed splits over the course of his career is inexcusable. I was on the Jose bandwagon before he got here and when he pitched for the Angels I saw it then. I still think he has more upside and will be a little stronger this year. When he’s right, his split finger is the best in the biz. If Masset pitches like he’s capable, the bullpen should still be a strength for this club, even without Chapman in it.

I think our bench is much better now than where we were last season

Oh, same here. I do think overall we are just as good a team if not better than last year. Offense will be better. Starting staff as a whole will be just as good. Even though the pen takes a hit without Chapman, I still believe they will be good. Our defense will still be strong; losing one player doesn’t make us Team Butterfingers. It’s like what so many actually really talk on here. More like fantasy talk, “What would we do.” I’m still looking forward for the season. We got on that unreal roll without Votto. And, we won’t have the Astros to kick around this year, either. I still see 90-92 wins this year. Without some kind of unreal roll like last year, I believe the biggest keys are going to be of the starting staff can repeat their success from last year and the production from the 4 hole. Only the biggest keys, not the only keys.